A reporter on Forbes’ wealth team, I cover (and uncover) the world’s 1,645+ billionaires, examining how they make, spend, and give away their fortunes. When I’m not counting the zeros for our Billionaires and Forbes 400 lists, I’m writing about these entrepreneurial titans. A musician in my other life, I also co-edit Forbes’ Hip-Hop Cash Kings and Cash Princes list and have a penchant for turning rap lyrics into financial advice. You'll also find me keeping tabs on the world's highest-paid models and authors. I first joined Forbes as an intern in January 2012, covering startups and entrepreneurship. A graduate of Columbia University, I've written for The National newspaper in my hometown of Abu Dhabi and CNN.com in Hong Kong, among others. Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and SoundCloud , or get in touch: nrobehmed(at)forbes(dot)com. You can send me sensitive documents anonymously and securely at SafeSource.forbes.com.

Digitizing Fashion, One VFile At A Time

“Fashion doesn’t acknowledge there is an Internet community that sets trends and shops them,” says Julie Anne Quay, founder of VFiles, a digital media community and clothing store changing how we interact with fashion online.

In less than a year, VFiles has built a brand that reflects what’s being worn and talked about from New York sidewalks to the outermost edges of the Internet. The clothes it sells are wearable, unisex and distinctly modern – fans include pop star Rihanna, rapper A$AP Rocky, and basketball player Kevin Durant. Its online videos, viewable on YouTube and VFiles.com, are hilarious parodies of fashion situations and stereotypes, while its website engages users to upload their own images and create online scrapbooks.

“There’s a whole generation of kids out there that are obsessed with fashion and want to stake their claim on it,” Quay explained.

A spritely Aussie SoulCycle instructor and mother of two, Quay is also a fashion industry veteran whose résumé boasts stints at Australian and Japanese Vogue, time spent running famed photographer Stephen Meisel’s studio and five years as the executive editor of avant-garde V magazine. In 2011, Quay set to work on digitizing fashion; VFiles launched in September 2012.

“You won’t see a single magazine in here – they digest fashion online and so do we,” said Quay, gesturing to the 17 stylish employees in VFiles’ storefront-meets-office. “We wanted to start a fashion community, and a fashion community is built with images.”

VFiles’ 18,000 registered users upload images and GIFs they like to curate their own pages. They can tag and share existing VFiles to style a lookbook around various topics. User-generated pictures now make up 60% of the content on VFiles, which also includes every single page from the archives of Visionaire, V and VMan, and iconic out-of-print magazines Project X and Stop.

The $75 hat name-checked in Jay Z's "Somewhere In America"

In VFiles’ Mercer street store, a $2,000 vintage ChanelChanel backpack sits next to a $180 Hood By Air shirt; other lines include Pyrex Vision and Been Trill, name-checked on Kanye West and Jay Z’s latest albums, respectively. Like a well-curated Tumblr page, this mix of old and new, high-end editorial and up-and-coming streetwear, embodies VFiles’ – and its customers’ – aesthetic.

Despite VFiles’ famous fans, Quay refuses to pay for celebrity endorsement. Nor does being a celebrity get you verified on the VFiles site – Quay’s team verify the best VFiles on merit.

VFiles makes money by buying from designers at wholesale prices and marking up. It currently sells 70% of its clothes online, 30% in-store, and is a break-even company.

Instead of trying to keep up with trends, VFiles users set them, and since VFiles’ web content comes from its users, the brand stays current. It truly is fashion for the Internet age – constantly refreshing, VFiles does not operate seasonally and releases a steady stream of new products.

Future plans include a music series, and an entirely user-generated New York Fashion Week show. VFiles invited users to submit designs with a particular hashtag, and its team handpicked four designers to show on behalf of the store this fall. Among them will be SAM MC, print designer for Givenchy, and Ammerman Schlösberg, who produce dreamy, naïve clothes. Unlike most stores, the clothes from the catwalk will be on sale in VFiles that week.

VFiles’ videos are the high-potential jewel in its crown. Model Files, a mockumentary which includes pretend model go-sees, offers a hilarious insider’s take on the fashion world’s absurdities, while its how-to clips correct pronunciations of models and brands. At once funny and educational, these videos are building a cult following. And while it engages in social media through its website and traditional media through its shows, VFiles is able to monetize on both through its shop. “Imagine if Game of Thrones had a store,” Quay points out.

To date,VFiles has been entirely self-funded, with Quay and her husband putting in $4 million. The company is about to launch a $3 million equity financing round. Quay’s former employer, V magazine, owns a minority stake in the company, with Quay, her husband and key employees comprising the rest.

“I really believe fashion is alive,” Quay said. “It’s not dead in print; you just need to be able to talk about it, see it and feel like you’re a part of it.”

VFiles’ comedic content might not take itself too seriously, but by inviting collaboration with users rather than dictating style as bloggers and magazines do, it’s beginning the noble work of democratizing an elite industry. As it grows, its challenge will be to retain focus on its different strains, and to keep the conversation going with its easily-distracted, 140-character-fluent fans.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.